Four Different Modifiers

Welcome to #LightingWeek on DEDPXL! We’ve got a number of things coming up each and every day this week and it’s all about lights and modifiers and techniques! OneLight 2.0 is on sale this week and we’ve got the new Lighting Field Guide ebook getting ready to drop as well as the much anticipated John Keatley video that we filmed last summer. Stay tuned!

Today we get started with some different modifiers:

There are a lot of modifiers on the market today. Some are invaluable, some are sort of useless, and some are handy in certain situations. Today I’m going to show you four different modifiers that I like using. Those are the MagMod, the Lastolite StroboGobo, the Orbis ring flash, and the SaberStrip. All of these modifiers are for hotshoe flashes and are pretty much universal, although you will see that I have to modify my LumoPro LP180 just a bit. Note — I have not been paid by any of these companies to review or use their products.

1. The MagMod System

For a long time my grid solution for hotshoe flash was a hot mess of a painted LightSphere that I called the DarkSphere, and then I bungeed a 7″ grid to. The good thing about this solution was I could use the same grids for my hotshoe flash or strobe and I could use anything from my 10º grid to my 40º grid even though 90% of the time I typically just go with a 20º grid. All this took up a good chunk of real estate in my bag, though. I used Honl grids for awhile, and while I liked those I always had an issue with how they attached to the front of the flash. That’s all fixed with the MagMod.

The MagMod is small, efficient, and versatile. They are expanding their line of products to include some new attachments as well. Check them out at www.magnetmod.com. Here’s a photo where I used two MagMod grids to create a rim light on each side of my subject.

2. The Lastolite Strobo Gobo

I saw this Strobo Gobo at Photoplus a couple of years ago and it was the only piece of gear on the entire showroom floor that got me excited. Fresnel attachments for strobes have been around for years but they are really expensive accessories. At $125 the Strobo Gobo is a steal of a deal compared to things like the $1,000 Profoto Small Spot or their $2,100 Fresnel attachment. The Strobo Gobo accepts widely available B size gobos and you can remove the middle Fresnel lens to slightly defocus whatever it is you are projecting. You can also use your laser or inkjet printer and print things on transparent film to experiment with your own patterns. As stated in the video above, I hacked my Strobo Gobo by gluing some strong magnets inside the body of it so that it can attach to my flash via the MagMod system.

3. The Orbis Ring Flash

A ring flash is kind of a one trick pony that some people love and some people hate. The ring flash “look” can run from “dated” to “fresh” on any given week. I like having one on hand for those times where it makes sense or when a client specifically requests that sort of look. I used to have an Alienbee ring flash but it was rarely used so I sold it and used about half of that money to get the Orbis ring flash.

4. The SaberStrip

The SaberStrip is one of the most underrated modifiers out there on the market today. It’s a cool modifier that is unlike many modifiers out there today. Scott Krebs, inventor of the SaberStrip, gave me a few of these when he first designed them and told me all about the inspiration and design of the thing. While it was a standard shipping tube that first inspired him, this product has evolved far beyond a standard shipping tube. Scott spent a lot of time researching manufacturing processes and worked with a company that could make a lightweight but very strong tube to be the main body of the SaberStrip.

The diffusion material and the adhesive used to attach it comes from the sailing industry. Scott asked me to test the Strips not only for the quality of light but the quality of the construction. I have packed these in soft sided stand bags, with light stands, with zero protection wrapped around the SaberStrips and have flown internationally with them many times like this. The tubes have never been crushed, the diffusion material has never ripped, the adhesive has never come loose.

Another great thing about SaberStrips is their ability to stay standing in the wind on a regular light stand with no sandbags. Check out the video above to see our thorough testing of this fact. Combining a few SaberStrips on a stand adds further functionality to these things. Check out their website to see the many configurations you can create with these.

If you have any questions about any of these modifiers hit me up in the comments below! Be sure to check back each day this week for new stuff! Remember… OneLight is on sale this week and a new Lighting Field Guide and the John Keatley video is coming up!

A full time commercial and editorial photographer, Zack shoots everything from bands to CEOs to ad campaigns. A gifted teacher and communicator, he has an uncanny ability to meet and connect with all types of people.

first of all. You are a huge inspiration for me. You’re the reason is sold all my Canon gear and switched to the Fuji. Thanks a lot for all the free content you are offering to everyone. Hope one day I can attend one of your workshops. Being from Switzerland, it’s not going to be the easiest task.

Now for my question (related to the video but not to modifiers. sorry).

One thing I haven’t managed so far is to control my flash from my x-t1, x100s. What flash/controller are you using?

Zack,
I was a Nikon user who switched to Fuji, I kept my Nikon flashes and wished there was something out there that would let me control flash power. I just tried Radio Popper new jr2 system which will allow you to control power of off camera flash (including Alien bees). You have to select if the hotshoe flash is Canon or Nikon compatible when buying the receiver. I don’t know how well it works with Lumopro or any 3rd party flashes but it might be worth while checking out.

Zack, I have also moved over from Canon to Fuji after purchasing the x100s a year ago, I now have the Xt1 with the 56mm and loving it. I appreciate all the reviews you have put out there which helped me make an informed decision. I have been experimenting with the Cactus V6 Transceivers and despite the fact they are a little bulky on the Fuji cameras they served me well during my Christmas trip to India along with some other work, they are inexpensive and allow you to control flash power with all types of hot shoe flashes including third party brands like Yongnuo which is a brand i really like due to the quality and cost. Thanks again for all your work and free content, your sharing information which is worth its weight in gold.

Zack, about the saberstrip: is it a good alternative to a simple lighting setup for street portraiture? i shoot with camera on right hand and stick with speedlight and umbrella on the left hand, which is not wind friendly and big for some indoor places. is the saberstrip strong enough (exposure-wise)? would you use it for that purpose?

Rodrigo – I can answer that for you. The SaberStrip is about 1/3 stop more efficient than the medium sized Apollo Softbox. We did some side by side comparisons from the same distance and the metered light output is just slightly better than what we consider to be a common go-to modifier. Obviously the modifiers are different in many ways but in regards to exposure its neck and neck with anything on the market today. I have done a lot of shooting with a SaberStrip in one hand and camera in the other.

Do you by chance have the Godox Wistro? I’m sure the Godox Wistro doesn’t fit in the Saberstrip but do you think the Saberstrip tube would fit over the Wistro without the base and work? I shoot weddings in Iowa where we have as much wind as we have corn. I’m also constantly shooting in mid day sun as well and would like to over power the sun with softer light than what you get from a bare flash.

Great post Zack! This is the type of stuff I love from you and Dedpxl. I just finished watching the One Light 2.0 and was sad it was over – and then I saw Lighting Week was starting! 🙂

Just as an aside – I made a snoot out of black construction paper for my first DEDPXL 08 shoot last Saturday. It worked okay but man this MagMod is right up my alley. Time to cash in those Xmas gift cards! Can’t wait to finally have a grid to play with.

Zack, love love the video! I had lots of giggles to go along with it and loved the modifiers. Will definitely be putting a couple of those on my list. Oh and a huge Kudos to Caleb for spectacular work on the video.

Zack, I still hold you responsible for my SaberStrip purchase. I remember staying up late in the night to watch you on CreativeLive. It was more than three years ago, you were on a windy rooftop in Seattle when you pulled a SaberStrip and showed us the light side like a true jedi knight 🙂
I was lucky to get mine when Scott had a 50% off deal (shipping and import taxes to Europe made sure the discount evaporated by the time I got my hands on it). I still keep it in high regard, it’s the best softbox for tight indoor spaces. Nowadays, my only regret is that I did not buy more than one.

Super entertaining video, Zack. More in this style, please. I’m now lusting after the gobos. Been yearning for something to create the illusion of depth in my tiny studio. Worried I’ll be disappointed, I guess, or that I’ll discard it after a few uses, but it’s that or homemade cookies which’ll probably suck.

While the information you share is really spot on, I have to say that I just really enjoy watching your videos. I love the simplicity of the B&W and your demonstration of the product is so easy to follow without any distraction. And on top of that I just cracked up with the umbrella bit and how wind can be such a pain in the ass.
I’ve learned a lot from all the info you have shared. Thank you for just being you – I will keep tuning in.

I’ve wanted the strobogobo for a while but didn’t want all the extra crap to mount it, it seems like the mag mod is the perfect solution. On a more funny note I’m glad I didn’t turn the video off till the very end….I had a did he just say what I think he said moment! LOL

Hello Zack and everyone. I’ve been using the X-T1 now for over 2 months and I love the camera. I love it so much that I just got the 16-55 lens. The colors and contrast are nice. I love this camera for the colors; it takes me back to why I loved photography (the dials, the experimenting, etc.). Though, one thing that I’m not able to get right (5 out of 7 times) is having sharp eye focus with portraits; sometimes just focus itself is an issue. I know that are many settings to change, and I have. Please read on on what I’ve changed.

After seeing it on the big monitor, you can see the focus on the person’s eyes are not sharp. Even though I’v set the camera with the following settings (see the picture), but also made the AF box 2 or 3 times larger (the box the turns green after you expose and focus), made sure that I’m at least 1.5 X that of my focal length, focus on the person’s face not the monkey’s, don’t use the face detection, single shoot mode, have an aperture more then f/4, power management is not high (this might help if high, but I don’t know), AF box is at the center near eyes, etc.

5) Quality of Light. There is sharpness and then “perceived” sharpness. This often comes down to the quality of light falling on your subject. Typically low light is flat and muddy. There is a lack of good contrast from highlights to shadows. Everything in your frame is covered in this flat muddy light and the details of the image are then… well… flat and muddy. It might be technically “sharp” but it just looks flat and muddy.

Take the same scene but add a light to add some contrast and the resulting image will have more contrast and you’ll perceive it to be “sharper” than the image with the flat muddy light because there’s a “snap” to the light. There’s better contrast. Edges are more accurately defined. Details are lit better. The image is “sharper” because the light is “sharper”.

So. Let’s go through this scenario again of using a 50mm lens at 1.8 @ 60th of a second at ISO 3200 in low, flat, muddy light. How do we get sharper images in this hypothetical situation?

I’ve got the MagMod and dig it (also the Gary Fong Power Snoot which is likely the best thing he’s put out there but not as easy to gel up). But this SaberStrip has stirred up my GAS big time. How have I not seen it before?

MagMod now has the MagSnoot available. Something I’m lusting over since it modifies the spread IIRC, 40 deg, 20, 15, and 13 when fully extended. I got two sets of the MagSphere and MagBounce from the kickstarter and am still trying to figure them out.

Zack, have you tried these three modifiers? Also do you think its possible to modify the SaberStrip to mount on the MagGrip? I hate having to take that off and out back on so often, and I know there’s no way possible for the SaberStrip to fit over that.

Hey Zack, great video! I had a very early SabreStrip, sadly she died (the plastic windy upy bits snapped) I think they’ve changed ’em since then on newer models. Love the look of the magMod gear – I will look around Melbourne and see if anyone has them. Cheers!

I know this might sound like a stupid question, but in the first product reviewed you said “I’m killing the ambient light, they are just here for the video.” Do you mean you shut off the studio lights to get those shots? Or the lighting set up is what killed the ambient light?

Thank you for an amazing video! I’m now starting with off camera flash for event shooting with some modifiers. These modifiers, especially the Saberstrip, looks like something that I would need(read: want). Does the Saberstrip comes in a smaller version than the one that is in the video?

And by the way, not directly related to your video, but what is your opinion on the Rogue Flashbender Large? Can it do any good for shooting outdoor portraits as a soft reflector? Or will I be better shooting with straight unmodified flash off camera?

The flashbender is fine for what it is. You could velcro a white piece of foam core to your flash for a similar effect. Just remember… the larger the light source, the softer the light. While the large flashbender is larger than a straight flash it isn’t “that” large for really soft light. Try using a similar sized piece of foam core attached to your flash to see if you like the look.

Hey Zack
I just wanna ask u, there is a peace where u can mount a speedlight with un umbrella in the same time, what is the name of that peace, and do u have and advises for a specific type
also i did feel that the quality of light that un umbrella creates is way better than all the modifiers that have been shown in the video (just an opinion)
thanks for ur amazing video 🙂

You can place a cold shoe on it and then mount your flash and an umbrella to a light stand.

There’s a place for all kinds of modifiers in the world of photography. Some love an umbrella and use that almost exclusively. Some like Octas. Some prefer a beauty dish. Some like hard light. Some like soft light. Sometimes you need to mix and match them for different needs.

thanks so much for featuring my invention the orbis in your ridiculously fun video. particularly pleased that caleb (editor and son… wow) chose a wicked garage tune for the intro-ident for the orbis….

just one thing, the orbis also works really well as a small speedlight softbox off to one side, and to give cool beauty-dish style light over the top of your camera…. it’s definitely not a one-trick-pony… i like to think of it more like a three trick thoroughbred! 😉

Love the saberstrips as well and also have been trying the magmod. I’ve switched to the Canon 600EX-rt system so adjusting the strobes in the sabers is super easy. I’ve ripped the magnet holder on one of the magmods though due to the 600exrt being a wider head and really having to stress that thing stretching it over the end.
I’m intrigued by the strobogobo magnet modification you’ve made, could you elaborate a bit on that. I’ve got a fresnel modified for my dynalite packs (recently using more einsteins) and love a fresnel but like you I’m constantly trying out new modifiers for speed lights and grow weary of all the different adapters one has to buy to get them to attach. Appreciate any enlightenment : )
Thanks,
Stevehttp://www.stevejonesphoto.com

Ooooooo. I like where you are going with that. I think so but there would need to be some padding I think as there is a little “ramp” inside the tube to help get even lighting across the whole thing. But I think you are on to something there. I’ll need to investigate that.

The Think Tank Bazooka tubes. Those things fit stands, umbrellas, and all kinds of stuff. I’ve been using one for years. It works perfectly. I have NO idea why TT stopped making them. They should have rebranded the Bazooka for portable lighting instead of for tripods.

Just a quick question re: the Orbis (actually, the Orbis/speedlight combo) –
How are these attached to the stand? I know how the light goes into the Orbis (I have one) but I’d *love* to use it in that configuration since it just makes so much more sense.

Video is great and very entertaining but seriously, white people just don’t look good on white backgrounds. I agree with Gregory Heisler: in general white backgrounds distract more than darker ones because – well – they’re brighter. Dah.

Have you considered using the cactus v6 transceiver with an old TTL flash from Canon or Nikon? As long as you can set the flash on TTL you will be able to change the flash settings as needed. Though the flash is set to TTL all the changes happen manually so you have complete control in increments of full, 1/2, or 1/3 stop. I own a pair of these transceivers and love the hell out of them.

I ran this a few years back and found it kicked a harder shadow from the flash end of the tube that can be seen on the subject. No sure if the one I had was a version 1 or I was having an off day and eff’d it up.

How have you found the light from the strip?

I ask because wind is always around in the UK plus I am sick of replacing umbrellas and softboxes.

I’ve been loving these new videos Zack! I’m getting a lot out of them thank you! Not to mention the quality of them, the editing is fantastic and the content absolutely hilarious. Out of all the photography videos on YouTube yours are my favourite. Same feeling for OneLight 2.0, Foundations of a Working Photographer and Studio Lighting by Zack Arias. Im learning so much from your videos, Thank you for sharing.

I was all set to buy the MagMod system when I ran across to warning about usage by folks that have a pacemaker implant. I have a pacemaker…and am totally bummed at not being able to use this fantastic looking light modifier system. Have you gotten any feedback from other users on this issue? Where exactly are the magnets located (base, accessories, both)?

The magnets are in the rubber thingy that attaches to the flash head. I would think that if you just keep the flash head away from your chest you’ll be ok. To be on the safe side however, you should also consult your physician.

Loved the video so much I placed an order with Magmod for a system. Unfortunately, MagnetMod’s customer service is non-existent. They immediately charged my Paypal account but will not respond to when they will ship my order, It has been over a week and absolutely no response. They may have a fantastic product but it is being over shadowed by poor customer service. Sad.

Hi Zach. I’m thinking hard about getting the saber-strip. I do all types of people photography including weddings. Lately been shoot outdoor band pictures. I’m looking for something that allows me to work in harsh light and create drama outdoors(contrasty). I’d also like to have soft light for portraits. I understand the closer/larger the light source the softer the light. In your opinion can the sabers trip fill this tall order? Also, do find you need to shoot at full power often with this modifier? Thanks for your feedback.

What can I say man ? You have an inbuilt sense of humour (not to mention a fabulous eye for good composition) that permeates all you do. Your photography speaks to me (and many others) every step of the way.

I am virtually a nobody in the field of photography, it’s my hobby, and I get some pocket money from it during weekends… (I am a Professional Violinist, now teaching full time)… but I just want to say that you’re the one Photographer I would always look up to and follow for inspiration and advice. Thanks for your outstanding contribution to the world of Photography. Ciao ciao, Roland

– This bride NEEDS to take up modelling!! What an amnziag Wedding they must have had. I LOVE the backyard’ feel of the reception, those are my favorite images!! That fire pit with the hay bales, and the string lights wow. this must have been awesome. I love all of these!!! I would get married here!

Just got the MagMod system, and loving it. Like you, I also like to do DIY, and the MagMod screams to DIY on it. So, can you please measure a gel plate and send me the dimensions? I just have a bunch of color gels lying around, and if I can adhere them to a clear peace of plastic, cut to size, voila! Instant creative gels, at a eighth of the price.

Hi Zack,
I have always heard them called cookies and not gobos. Cookie was short for cucoloris. Used in the film industry since the beginning. To me gobos were always a short term for go between also stolen from film land. It would block light from hitting the lens or spilling on the background.

I was greatly blessed by the devotional today. True–most of us “witness” silently or at best in whispers and even then, in generalities. But to speak of our personal Lord with enthusiasm and delight is another story. So I was indeed touched by Bill Bright’s words. Thanks for your ministry to all of us out here “in the trenches” who want so desperately to be the “salt of the earth” and put Christianity in a positive, upbeat and zestful light.